Miasma
by Chrysne
Summary: Envious of Mojo Jojo for creating the Rowdyruff Boys, HIM also wanted kids of his own. However, unlike Mojo and his vile boys, he wanted girls. Evil daughters, and HIM knew where to get them. The Powerpuffs are slowly to be turned into the Powerpunks, and both the PPG and the RRB have no idea, not with Blossom missing. A week later, a girl named Berserk appears. *Reds/Greens/Blues*
1. Prologue

HIM, a powerful devil-like being with red skin, the one said to be _'so sinister, so evil, so scary, so horribly vile that his real name can never be said, lest fear be struck into the very hearts of men.'_

…was admittedly jealous.

Worse, he was admittedly jealous of Mojo Jojo, of all beings to be jealous of.

From a small portal in his home (somewhere that is most probably located within the deepest depths of hell or wherever), HIM watched the reason of his jealousy with a frown on his face. He silently observed the Rowdyruff Boys continue to ignore yet another long repetitive rant of anger coming from Mojo Jojo, their creator and father (as much as everyone knew the three super-powered boys hated that little fact).

In his not-so-secret lair, Mojo Jojo was pacing back and forth in front of the boys while shouting off his tirade at his earlier (another) failed attempt at destroying the Powerpuff Girls (for the nth time). Brick, sitting on the couch with a small thick book in one hand, rolled his dark red eyes before resuming his silent reading. Across from him, Butch was lying haphazardly on another couch with loud music blasting from his headphones and a magazine on his hands. Boomer was casually sitting down on the carpet, humming lightly to himself as he idly wrote down another one of his original compositions.

HIM's frown deepened when Mojo finally noticed the boys' nonexistent listening and started ranting anew, this time about how the trio were not acting like the respectful sons that he created and intended them to be. All three boys merely rolled their eyes at that.

HIM promptly vanished the small portal with a wave of his red claw, slumping into his couch with a sigh and a small pout.

He so wanted kids of his own.

Of course, he didn't just come to this particular revelation just like that. HIM found himself pricked with a tiny little pang of jealousy whenever he witnessed numerous times the severely dysfunctional yet irrefutably familial relationship between Mojo Jojo and the Rowdyruff Boys. And eventually, all these tiny little pangs of jealousy gathering within him built up into an overwhelming envy that demanded to be vanished.

However, unlike Mojo and his vile disrespecting overgrown brats that can never be controlled, not even by HIM himself much to his reluctant admission, he much preferred girls.

Daughters.

HIM wanted his own little darling sweethearts, who are the very epitome of evil and elegance. (And respect.)

The red devil-like being lost count of how many times he would find himself just imagining three little girls cheerfully reporting to him on how they successfully terrorized Townsville yet again with an oh-so sweet smile on their pretty little faces. His brief feelings of pride would then quickly disappear with a sigh as he remembered that it was all only his wishful thinking.

HIM laid down on his couch, allowing himself to be overcome with the idle thoughts of three beautiful, dark and dangerous young women, whose wannabe suitors he would make sure to thoroughly beat off with a large stick, perhaps a flaming one with metal spikes all over it. After all, no one's evil enough for daddy's precious villainesses.

His half-lidded eyes, in the midst of lazily looking all around his living room, caught sight of a slightly crumpled newspaper from last week. There in the front page was the reason Mojo Jojo was ranting off a whole thesaurus in front of his three annoyed sons.

Evil and elegant, HIM suddenly thought, a dark smile slowly creeping upon his lips as he sat up.

Unlike Mojo Jojo's three sons, HIM wanted daughters. However, he did not want to bother himself with going through all that trouble of creating his own evil brats, which was rather difficult as it is delicate, one little wrong move and… (the sole reason why he was still currently daughterless) That, and he found it to be much more enjoyable and rewarding by becoming the father of the other three of the six super-powered beings in current existence. (The female half, that is. He'd already given up on the custody battle of the male half years ago. Mojo can have his three disrespectful sons for all HIM cares.) Not only would he get his three new daughters, but he would also rid himself of his three sole nemeses in the process. Two birds with one stone.

So yes, HIM would rather gain his three daughters of evil the fun way. And he knew exactly just where to get them.

Deciding that he needed some valuable assistance, the red devil-like being picked up his phone to dial Mojo Jojo, already designing in his mind the three soon-to-be additional bedrooms to his home while waiting for the call to connect.

He would steal the Powerpuff Girls right from Professor Utonium's hands before the stupid excuse for a scientist could even notice it. Soon, very soon, only he and Mojo Jojo would have the title of father of a super-powered sibling trio…

* * *

_(Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff Girls)_

**Miasma**_  
_

* * *

A large green sign bearing the words _'The City of Townsville'_ stood right beside the entrance road to Townsville, welcoming all who enters the famous city.

Two hands clad with black leather wristbands suddenly grabbed the sign's gleaming metal pole, flew off and swung it right through the torso of a gigantic metal robot running rampant all over the city streets. The giant attack robot froze, cleanly sliced in half. With one final powered kick from a green converse-clad foot, the two halves of the robot fell down to the road in two loud crashes, causing a small earthquake with the force of its impact.

The large battered sign was hauled over one shoulder and the girl singlehandedly responsible for the robot's downfall (and all the destruction caused to the surroundings that eventually led to it) flew down to the ground a few meters away from the robot's smoking ruins. The rather gorgeous girl ran one wristband-clad hand through her raven black hair styled in a choppy bob that reached down a few inches above her shoulders. Lime green eyes closed in annoyance. "Last day of summer vacation and this happens. Can't even get a damn break…"

"You know, Buttercup, you could have just saved yourself all the trouble by flipping the small self-destruct button at the back of the robot." A cool feminine voice spoke from behind her.

"There's a self-destruct button!?" Buttercup swiveled around to find her red-haired sister slowly walking over to where she stood. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me that earlier!"

"Language, Buttercup." Blossom sighed, her long orange-red high ponytail falling down to below her hips and dancing in the light breeze. Her rose pink eyes darted around the ruined streets, surveying the definite wince-inducing damage to their surroundings. "You really should learn some restraint…" She murmured with a small frown on her beautiful face.

"Hey, you know fighting's my stress relief. Being a super-powered heroine at eighteen is tough enough, but having to live a normal life at the same time after just dealing with hell puberty?" Buttercup shrugged, lightly scoffing at the thought. One seriously painful hell of a puberty was the reason why all three girls now looked like any average person, save for their 'eldest' sister's obviously unnatural-colored eyes. At least they all got a few new powers out of it. "You should try it, it actually works."

"Only because of our lives." Blossom rolled her eyes. "Where's Bubbles?"

"Busy making sure that no one got hurt." The voice of their fair-haired sibling came from beside them as Bubbles flew down right next to her two sisters, her light blonde twin pigtails that reached down to her mid-back bouncing a little as she lightly landed. Oddly enough, her childhood hairstyle still seemed to suit her perfectly. Sky blue eyes sent a glare at her black-haired sister, "Would it kill you to tone it down just a little?"

"Well, sorry…" Buttercup rolled her lime green eyes, sounding entirely unapologetic.

"Seriously, Buttercup!" Bubbles frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I lost count of how many people and animals I had to fly away to safety!"

"Then next time, you fight the giant robot and I'll stay home and watch the soccer game!" Buttercup scoffed, pointedly ignoring her blonde sister's pouting face.

Standing beside the two of them, Blossom sighed.

"Come on girls, let's go get Mojo and be done with this." With that, the redhead walked over to where the upper half of the gigantic robot crashed a few meters away, Bubbles and Buttercup following close behind her. The head of the giant robot was actually a large dome made out of thick opaque glass where the controls for the robot were located. The girls could clearly hear one of Mojo Jojo's infamous _'Curses!'_-filled repetitive rants, even without their super hearing, and all three sisters rolled their eyes.

"Just come out already, Mojo!" Blossom half-heartedly yelled at the dome. "It's over, and you know it."

"That is what you think, Powerpuff Girls! It is not over, over as in finished, reached the end, over and done with!" Mojo Jojo's response was slightly muffled from where he shouted inside the dome. The monkey-like villain was still futilely trying to get his robot, or at least the upper half of it, to work. "I, Mojo Jojo, still have more tricks up my metaphorical sleeve, that is to say that I, Mojo Jojo-"

"Should put a sock in it!" Buttercup growled, stomping closer to the glass dome. "I'm gonna beat you up big time for making me miss my show, you stupid monkey!"

"Ha! I, Mojo Jojo, would like to see you try, green Powerpuff!" Mojo cried from within the dome. "I, Mojo Jojo, have wisely and cleverly made sure to thoroughly and evenly coat this protective glass dome that is the only thing separating you three girls from me, Mojo Jojo, with Antidote X, making you, Powerpuff Girls, unable to touch the glass dome's surface and therefore not be able to-!"

Buttercup just smirked, raised the large sign she was still carrying and promptly smashed a big hole onto the glass dome with the end of the sign's metal pole, exposing the wide-eyed and trembling villain from within. The green puff tossed away the large battered sign as Mojo Jojo audibly gulped, staring with wide trembling eyes at the sight of a darkly smirking Buttercup, who was cracking her knuckles loudly and threateningly.

"Buttercup _really_ wanted to watch that soccer game today huh…" Bubbles murmured while Blossom suppressed a small sigh, the sounds of bone breaking punches and Mojo's loud cries clearly heard from the background. "Well, today is her last day of freedom, as she puts it. We start our final year in high school tomorrow, remember?"

Bubbles brightened. "Oh yeah! We're finally seniors…!"

Blossom's lips quirked up a little at her blonde sister's excitement before turning around to face her other sister.

"Alright, that's enough, Buttercup." The redhead spoke authoritatively, having decided that poor Mojo had enough of a beating from her irate black-haired sister. "Send him back to his lair and let's go home."

"Tch." Buttercup gave the severely beaten up Mojo Jojo one last punch before tossing him high into the air with her super strength, sending him sailing through the sky and heading straight towards his not-really-a-secret lair.

But a few meters into the sky, a single hand suddenly shot out and grabbed hold of the monkey-like villain by the end of his long purple cape. Mojo made a small choking noise as he was quickly snatched out of the air and flung down to the ground by a blond guy who looked to be about the same age as the three Powerpuff Girls who were standing a few meters away.

Rose pink, lime green and especially sky blue eyes flashed with instant recognition. All three pairs of wide eyes were fixated on the familiar blond in front of them, who stood relaxed, one hand tucked inside the left pocket of his blue jeans and the other was currently holding Mojo up by his purple cape.

A flabbergasted Mojo was indignantly spluttering, "W-What is the meaning of this, this as in referring to the fact about how you so crudely, and not delicately as you should have but did not for reasons that I have yet to find out, snatched up my visibly and prominently bruised and beaten up flying form out from the air and just-"

"Now, we've talked about this, remember?" The blond interrupted, a calm smile on his handsome face. "Do we have to send you off to speech therapy once again…?"

Mojo immediately quieted, his eyes flashing once in absolute horror at the aforementioned threat.

Hearing her counterpart's soft and mature voice after not seeing him and his brothers since their sudden disappearance eight years ago, Bubbles was finally convinced that this was real and not just a dream. Her counterpart was really standing in front of her, just meters away, and looking rather cute and attractive too.

"Boomer…" A soft whisper unconsciously escaped Bubbles' lips at that moment, one that any normal person would definitely have not heard. Too bad they were all far from being normal.

Boomer looked up and Bubbles froze when his calmly closed eyes opened to reveal half-lidded twin pools of mesmerizing deep ocean blue orbs for just a split second before closing once more. Bubbles felt a tiny twinge of disappointment at that.

The small smile on Boomer's face wavered for a split second before slowly disappearing into a calm indifference. The girls' bodies all tensed.

"Hello Bubbles." The Boomer blankly greeted.

Bubbles blinked in surprise.

Bubbles noticed Blossom's meaningful glance directed towards her out of the corner of her eyes and the blonde puff immediately straightened herself. She inwardly took a deep breath, "W-What are you doing here…?" Boomer was her counterpart to deal with after all.

Beside her, Bubbles noticed Buttercup silently settle into a defensive stance.

Boomer's handsome face was serenely apathetic. "Don't worry, I'm only here to fetch Mojo. I'm not interested in a fight, haven't been for eight years, so you can tell your sisters to relax."

Bubbles could tell that her counterpart was speaking the truth, and she immediately relaxed. Seeing that, Buttercup also eased her stance, albeit hesitantly and still kept a close guarded eye on Boomer. However, it was a different case with Blossom.

If any, what her 'youngest' sister's counterpart said only made Blossom even more suspicious.

"What for?" Blossom spoke with an authoritative tone, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mojo was already heading straight for his lair. Where are you taking him?"

"Don't know." Boomer casually replied with a light shrug. He really couldn't care less.

Blossom frowned and was about to speak once again, when Bubbles whispered to her in a soft voice. "He's telling the truth, Blossom…"

Blossom nodded and did not bother to ask if Bubbles was certain, knowing that her blonde sister wouldn't have spoken up if she wasn't sure. In her mind, there was one question above all that the redhead wanted to ask Boomer. If he was here, then where was…

"I'm leaving, you girls really should too." Boomer spoke with a composed tone and started lightly hovering a few inches off the ground. Before Blossom or Bubbles could say anything, Mojo abruptly screeched.

"B-But, what about my robot, the giant attack automaton which I, Mojo Jojo, own and created by myself, that is to say that the weapon that was intended and with the sole purpose to destroy the Powerpuff Girls was built using my own bare hands and-" Mojo was abruptly cut-off when the two gigantic halves of the huge busted robot that the girls –_Buttercup_– destroyed earlier were suddenly picked up from the ground.

"These two pieces of junk? I got it."

All attention was drawn towards the handsome guy with spiky jet black hair who was effortlessly lifting up the two halves of the giant robot above his head as if they weighed lighter than a mere feather.

Bubbles felt her black-haired sister stiffen beside her.

Buttercup clenched her fists. She felt her temper rising at the mere sight of those intense forest green eyes that just seemed to always _always_ stir something unpleasant within her, and she couldn't help the scathing glare that crossed her gorgeous face.

"Butch…" The green puff managed to growl lowly from where she stood, shaking, gritting her teeth.

Butch smirked, fierce green eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, well. Long time no see, Powderpuffs."

"It's Powerpuff, you fucking retard!" Buttercup spat, her scowl deepening. She forgot about how easily Butch could rile her up.

Butch merely sneered. "Newsflash, Butterbitch. You're a retard too if you think that, since we're fucking _counterparts_." Buttercup also seemed to forget about how easily **she** could rile **Butch** up. Fucking counterparts indeed…

Buttercup's growl was loud and feral. She quickly moved into an offensive stance and was just about to attack, when her red-haired sister held up a single blocking hand.

"Buttercup." Blossom spoke tersely, keeping her pink eyes locked straight at the two Rowdyruff brothers. "Not before them." _They will be the ones to initiate the fight, not you._

Buttercup clenched her teeth, hesitating for a single tense moment, but otherwise stayed put.

Blossom slowly retracted her arm. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Bubbles hold back a worried fidget.

Boomer turned back towards the monkey-like villain he was holding up. He sighed, "Really, Mojo. You should stop playing villain and just retire already. Stop bothering everyone." Mojo spluttered indignantly at that, the blond ruff's words raising the Powerpuffs' interest. "What will Brick do when he sees all the trouble you caused again…"

"Send him back to that island of monkeys."

Mojo's anew babbling was immediately silenced by a deep powerful voice.

Blossom warily suppressed a slight shiver.

All heads turned to find another _familiar_ guy with long red hair tied in a low ponytail making his way over towards them.

Blossom narrowed her eyes. "Brick…"

Brick stopped right in between where his two brothers stood, his arms crossed, his handsome face unreadable.

Mojo squirmed uneasily in Boomer's inescapable hold, feeling a single bead of sweat slowly trickle down the side of his face.

All six super-powered beings were reunited.

All of them eighteen years of age, and much _much_ more powerful.

The air surrounding them was undeniably tense and thick with apprehension, most especially on the girls' part. Brick's half-lidded eyes stared down his surroundings, the red ruff's spine-chilling dark red orbs that only his counterpart's defiant rose pink eyes can directly look at. Buttercup and Bubbles secretly admired their red-haired sister for that. Blossom undeniably had the scariest counterpart out of the three of them, especially now that they were all grown up, stronger and so different from when they were kids.

Blood-red eyes narrowed slightly.

"Butch." The bored black-haired ruff looked up at his 'eldest' brother at the low utterance of his name. "Dispose of that garbage you're holding."

"W-What! No, wait-" Mojo loudly protested as Butch grinned darkly.

"Whatever you say."

The green ruff tossed the two halves of the giant robot up high in the sky with ease and quickly followed it by rapidly gathering a small ball of green energy in his hands. The electric green ball crackled and sizzled with raw power and Butch gleefully threw it up at the two descending robot halves heading straight down above him. The quick collision generated a large deafening explosion of smoky black and green, the surrounding air blown away by the tremendous force of the blast, ruffling the hairs of the seven that were standing present nearby down below. A soft light rain of ashes fell down upon them, resembling falling black snow, burning up before they could touch the ground.

Mojo pitifully froze weeping in Boomer's hold at the loss of his precious robot (that he had been planning on rebuilding into a new and better one to hopefully try and defeat the Powerpuff Girls with _again_…) while a still crazily grinning Butch flicked off excess green sparks from his fingers.

Bubbles held back a tiny fearful gulp while Buttercup rolled her eyes and scoffed under her breath. "Fucking showoff…"

It was a rather flimsy demonstration but Blossom easily recognized it for what it really was. A warning of the boys' _stronger_ power that they won't hesitate to use on them _if needed be_.

Blossom's lips thinned.

"Brick." She spoke, gathering all attention towards her. Her two sisters inwardly commended her for not buckling at the pressure radiating from five pairs of superhuman eyes, including her own counterpart's rather bloodcurdling red ones. "What are you three doing here?"

Butch glanced at his 'eldest' brother out of the corner of his eyes while Boomer, his eyes closed, stayed silent.

Dark red eyes briefly flickered. "Boomer already told you."

A frown crossed Blossom's beautiful features as Buttercup scowled from where she stood beside her.

At a silent command that the girls missed, both Butch and Boomer started hovering lightly off the ground. Brick turned around.

"Wait."

The Rowdyruff leader paused when he heard his counterpart's voice. He hesitated at first, inwardly debating with himself for a second, before finally deciding to let his fellow redhead speak.

"Before you boys go, let me just say this…" Blossom paused for a moment. "Welcome back."

Bubbles and Buttercup's eyes quickly darted towards their red-haired sister in surprise and confusion. Blossom merely stood straight with her arms crossed, completely straight-faced as she stared at the back of her counterpart's head.

Butch blinked once before throwing his head back and let out a loud booming laugh. Boomer lightly tilted his head.

Brick, with his back turned towards the girls, sneered. "We never left."

The red ruff joined his two brothers in the air as his black-haired brother turned towards his counterpart.

"See you tomorrow, Butterbabe." Butch winked at Buttercup just before all three Rowdyruffs flew off with Mojo Jojo in tow, leaving the Powerpuff Girls standing there, definitely confused.

Bubbles was trying –_and failing_– to calm down Buttercup as the green puff was yelling out loud blush-inducing obscenities and curses directed towards her cocky counterpart.

Blossom, however, was more focused on what her black-haired sister's counterpart's words meant. The pink puff furrowed her eyebrows, "What did he mean by that…?"

"Huh?" Bubbles turned towards her 'eldest' sister with a curious face. Buttercup was still steaming but also directed her attention to her red-haired sister.

"Butch." Blossom glanced at Buttercup to see her black-haired sister scowl. "His parting words were 'see you tomorrow'. What did he mean?"

Buttercup scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "So? That idiot probably didn't think and just said it to annoy me!"

"Buttercup…" Bubbles sighed at her sister.

"'See you tomorrow'…" Blossom's narrowed pink eyes slowly widened. "He can't possibly mean…"

"What?" Bubbles asked, stepping closer. "What is it, Blossom?" Even Buttercup noticed the look on their red-haired sister's face.

Blossom turned to face her two sisters with a serious look in her eyes. "Girls, I think we should be prepared for tomorrow…"

"Why?" Buttercup frowned, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. "What's with tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's our first day of our senior year in high school." Blossom spoke with a frown on her beautiful face. "And the Rowdyruff Boys might just be transferring to our school."

Meanwhile with the boys, Mojo finally awoke from his frozen stupor. Boomer, who was carrying him while he and his two brothers quickly flew through the cloudless blue sky, was the first to notice.

The blond ruff lightly sighed, "Mojo's awake."

Butch rolled his dark green eyes. "There goes the sweet silence…"

"I, Mojo Jojo, demand that you, my beloved sons whom I, Mojo Jojo created, straightaway and instantly tell and reveal where you boys are taking me, Mojo Jojo, without any express knowledge beforehand or forewarning at all whatsoever that-"

"Speech therapy." Boomer spoke with a calm smile on his face and Mojo immediately and obediently shut his mouth.

Brick, the only one with the answer to Mojo's question, merely spoke in a cool bored voice.

"HIM called. He wants to see you."

* * *

_**…A dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence. An atmosphere that obscures.**_


	2. Beside

"_Tomorrow's our first day of our senior year in high school." Blossom spoke with a frown on her beautiful face. "And the Rowdyruff Boys might just be transferring to our school."_

That was what kept repeating over and over again inside Buttercup's head as she slowly took her time in getting dressed. Lime green eyes checked her reflection in the full-length mirror of her room. She was wearing a short-sleeved lime green shirt that exposed her black bellybutton piercing (she fondly remembered the Professor practically have a heart attack when he first caught sight of it) and black skinny jeans with her favorite pair of green converse.

She ran her wristband-clad hands through her short raven black choppy bobbed locks a few times and Buttercup decided she looked alright enough before grabbing her backpack and exited her room, heading downstairs to the kitchen for some breakfast.

Buttercup slid down the stair railings and landed with a small agile flip, her stomach rumbling when she caught scent of something delicious cooking. Sure enough, Buttercup entered the kitchen to find her blonde sister humming a little upbeat tune while making another batch of fluffy pancakes along with some juicy bacon and eggs. Bubbles was wearing a spaghetti-strap light blue tank top, a white pleated miniskirt with a thin rhinestone chain belt and matching dangle earrings. On her feet were blue wedges with ribbon straps crossing up to her knees.

Buttercup inwardly rolled her eyes as she let her backpack fall down to the floor. Bubbles always was the most fashion-obsessed sister amongst the three of them. "Smells good, Bubs." The black-haired puff yawned out, taking a seat on the dining table filled with mouth-watering food. Unlike her two sisters, Buttercup was not a morning person.

"Morning, Buttercup!" Bubbles cheerfully greeted, setting down the last batch of pancakes atop the dining table, her light blonde pigtails that reached down to her mid-back bouncing with every step she took.

Blossom was standing off to the side of the kitchen, pouring herself her daily morning cup of freshly brewed coffee. The redhead was wearing an off-shoulder long-sleeved pink shirt and grey skinny jeans with dark pink peep toe pumps. Her long orange-red hair was tied up into a single high ponytail that fell down to her hips. After their hell puberty, Blossom stopped wearing her iconic red bow in her previous rather childish manner (as the pink puff so put it) and instead wrapped it around her neck like a choker and tied in a long flowing ribbon at the back.

"Good morning." Blossom greeted, seating down at the table with her mug of fresh steaming coffee in one hand and a copy of the daily newspaper in the other. Buttercup barely grumbled a reply from her over-stuffed cheeks, too busy pigging out on Bubbles' delicious cooking, eliciting a giggle from their blonde sister. Bubbles always has been the best cook among them all (the Professor included). Bubbles happily chirped a greeting back as she set down her 'eldest' sister's plate in front of her, receiving a thankful nod from the redhead.

Taking a sip of her coffee, Blossom idly read through the newspaper as Bubbles poured syrup over her own small stack of blueberry pancakes. "Hmm, that's interesting…" The redhead lightly hummed, gaining the attention of her two sisters.

"What's interesting?" Bubbles curiously asked, taking a small forkful of her pancakes.

"Apparently Townsville has a new mayor." Blossom replied and read the corresponding newspaper article aloud. "Ian Henderson, a powerful man whose wealth is on par with those of the Morbucks family…"

"Whatever." Sitting in front of the redhead, Buttercup merely rolled her green eyes and swallowed her food. "It's about time that pickle-loving old fart retired."

"Well, let's just hope that he's a good mayor." Bubbles said after swallowing another forkful of her pancakes. "Hopefully even better than the old mayor."

Buttercup scoffed, "Anyone's a better mayor than the Mayor."

"Except Fuzzy Lumpkins." Blossom commented, flipping a page of the newspaper.

All three girls shared a smirk with Bubbles lightly giggling.

Quickly draining her glass of fresh orange juice, Buttercup hesitated for a moment before bringing up the topic that she's been dreading about since yesterday. "Hey, Bloss…?"

Bubbles promptly quieted down, already getting a feeling from her enhanced sense of empathy, one of the few powers she had developed after their hell puberty.

Rose pink eyes glanced up from the newspaper for a single second before resuming reading. "I'm still not sure that the boys will transfer to our school, Buttercup, but there's a high possibility." There is only one high school in Townsville after all, and that is Townsville High.

Buttercup frowned and clenched her teeth. "Damn it! What the hell are they playing at, suddenly reappearing after eight years…"

"Calm down, Buttercup." Blossom sighed as she carefully folded the newspaper and set it aside for the Professor to read later.

"Maybe they're not planning anything…?" Bubbles spoke up hesitantly, slowly setting down her fork on her empty plate. "I mean, it's been eight years right? A lot has changed since then…"

"Are you serious?!" Buttercup turned towards her blonde sister with an incredulous expression on her face. "You're saying that the boys suddenly came back just to go to the last year of high school, with _us_ no less? Those boys could never be good, Bubbles."

"And why not? We've changed, maybe they did too…" Bubbles gripped the hem of her skirt. "Even if it's just wistful thinking, but… we are counterparts after all…"

"Ugh. Don't remind me." Buttercup grumbled, lightly massaging her forehead. "Just thinking about mine gives me a headache…"

"Besides…" Bubbles softly voiced. "You heard what Boomer said to Mojo…"

"And you fell for it?" Buttercup scoffed. "Typical Bubbles, you always did have that crush on Boomer. Hell, I bet you still do…"

Bubbles blushed indignantly, grabbing a handful of fresh blueberries from the fruit bowl on the center of the dining table and chucked them at her black-haired sister. Buttercup just easily dodged them all, save for one blueberry that she expertly caught in her mouth. Bubbles huffed and crossed her arms.

Blossom, who had been drinking her coffee while silently listening to her two sisters argue, chose that moment to speak up. "Bubbles has a point though, Buttercup."

"You can't be serious, Blossom!" Buttercup raised her eyebrows, pointedly ignoring her blonde sister's equally surprised but faintly triumphant look.

Blossom rolled her pink eyes. "What Boomer said and how the boys acted yesterday, the lack of a fight… you can't ignore the implications of that. Though we also can't ignore the possibility of them misleading us…" She sighed as she closed her eyes. "I'm stressed with conflicting doubts. We'll see how today goes, and then…"

"You're fucking shitting me…" Buttercup scowled.

"Language, Buttercup. I'm just telling you to be wary of them and to watch yourself. If I have to hear about a fight, then it would be one that the boys started, got it?" Blossom explained sternly as all three of them stood up from the dining table. "We don't know if they'll be as… _civil_ as they were yesterday. If they can't be good, they can at least be neutral."

Buttercup narrowed her eyes but grumbled her reluctant consent. "Fine!" All three of them knew that Blossom was right. She always was.

"Come on, Buttercup, who knows?" Sweet Bubbles was ever the optimist, though her smiling expression faltered a little. "We might be able to befriend them? You can't deny having a friend with superpowers like us would be nice…" All three girls couldn't deny that they wanted a companion that they wouldn't have to be careful around, unlike with how they had to constantly watch themselves and hold back around their _fragile_ human friends. But still, the Rowdyruff Boys…?

"You lose that bet." Buttercup muttered under her breath, picking up her backpack from the floor.

At that moment, the Professor came into the kitchen, looking tired and sleepy. He yawned loudly, rubbing one eye as he greeted the three girls. "Morning, girls…"

"Good morning, Dad." Blossom greeted back, kissing the Professor on the cheek and gracefully walking past him to grab her large dark pink purse sitting on the couch at their living room.

"Mornin' Dad." Buttercup grunted, not a morning person like her two sisters were (a fact that she shares with the Professor), also kissing the Professor on the cheek before quickly zipping away to join her sisters to the door.

"Morning, Daddy!" Bubbles giggled, kissing the Professor on the cheek and handing him a freshly brewed cup of espresso before skipping over to grab her own white leather hobo bag that was also on the couch at their living room.

"Bye Professor!" The three sisters simultaneously called out before flying off to their school, leaving behind three quickly fading streaks of their signature colors.

"Bye girls!" Professor Utonium yelled back with a smile. "Have a good first day!"

The girls quickly arrived at the large black iron gates of the enormous and intimidating Townsville High. Despite it being the sole high school in Townsville, Townsville High was still considered as an elite private educational institute, bearing a few awards and honors to its name and fair reputation.

The three super-powered sisters entered the school, easily collected their respective schedules and then headed off towards their first class. Unfortunately, the only classes that the three of them shared together were their first class and Gym, and the second was not until for much later. Both Bubbles and Buttercup kicked a fuss at that (the former about their differing classes while the latter about the fact that Gym won't be until later).

As the girls were passing through a long hallway with the left wall made up of large glass windows that let in the warm morning sunlight, Bubbles suddenly stopped and tugged at her sisters' sleeves. The blonde quickly pointed out the glass windows, "Girls, look!"

Both Blossom and Buttercup glanced out the glass windows to see what their 'youngest' sister was pointing at, and the first thing they saw were three fading dark streaks of colors above in the air. Red, dark blue and dark green ran and zigzagged across the cloudless morning sky, straight towards Townsville High.

_Well shit_.

"Those aren't ours…" Bubbles quietly spoke and the blonde puff wasn't sure whether or not her sisters heard her for they kept on staring out through the clear glass windows with equally wide eyes.

"Looks like your damn theory is correct, Bloss…" Buttercup turned towards her red-haired sister, one wristband-clad hand tightening its grip on the strap of her backpack. "What now, leader girl?"

After a minute of silence, Blossom looked away from the glass windows and resumed walking towards their first class. "We go to class like normal people."

"And the boys?" Buttercup asked, one hand resting on her hip. Bubbles was standing next to her, worriedly fidgeting with her white shoulder bag.

Blossom didn't even pause in her walking.

"We hope they do the same."

* * *

Blossom fought the urge to sigh for the nth time.

As if sharing her first class with her counterpart wasn't enough, she was forced to endure one whole year of him sitting _right beside her_.

In hindsight, she really shouldn't have been surprised.

As she quietly sat in her seat at the front row, Blossom had never felt so stiff and tense in her life. And judging by Brick's face, or what little she could read from his indifferent expression, he apparently felt the same. The two redheads were both sitting straight, perfectly and uncomfortably still, obviously avoiding contact with each other. This seating arrangement was choking the two of them.

The pink puff kept her eyes locked to the front, where the teacher stood and was slowly droning on a long tedious lecture with an equally dull voice, effectively boring most –_all_– of the students in the class, not that the said teacher noticed. Keeping one ear steadily listening to the lecture (that she already knew, and apparently much better than the teacher), Blossom studied her counterpart out of the corner of her eyes, carefully making sure to do so in a surreptitious manner.

Brick was taller than her, and it annoyed her. His tall height made him more intimidating, as if his equally unusual-colored eyes weren't enough. He had long silky red hair, a shade or two darker than hers, reaching down to his lower back and tied in a low ponytail, his bangs perfectly framing his irrefutably handsome face and bringing out his half-lidded eyes the dark color of blood. The pink puff took note that his trademark backwards red hat was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he got rid of it in the same way that she stopped wearing her big red bow…?

Blossom twirled the pink pen in her grip once. She wrote down a few notes on the lecture subject.

Brick's attire only added to his appealing looks (if the rather pointed stares coming from all the girls in the class were anything for Blossom to judge by), with her counterpart wearing black pants with a red belt and a silver chain hanging from its side, his long-sleeved button-up red shirt had its sleeves folded just below his elbows and a few buttons undone, giving the pink puff a glimpse of a black stone pendant hanging around his neck.

Blossom nearly broke her pen.

He was _sinfully_ good-looking.

Blossom suppressed a scowl as she took down more notes, writing a little too roughly. The redhead quickly banished _those_ thoughts away and instead gave a discreet checking glance at the two other counterpart pairs sitting inside the classroom.

All the way at the back of the classroom, Buttercup was doing a rather fairly good job of restraining herself from punching the living lights out of her counterpart, who was currently sleeping –_snoring_– in the seat right behind her. Thanks to her super hearing, Blossom could quite clearly hear her black-haired sister's teeth gritting in frustration. In comparison, Bubbles was lucky enough to be seated far away from her own counterpart. Every few minutes or so, the blonde puff's light blue eyes would nervously glance towards the back of Boomer's head from where he quietly sat a good number of rows to the left in front of her.

Out of the three of them, it was quite clear that Blossom was the most unfortunate.

It was only a few frustrating minutes later that the redhead paused in her writing and closed her eyes, giving up the silent charade between the two of them with a small inaudible sigh escaping from her lips. She was, after all, straight and direct.

"Brick." Blossom's melodious voice was too low for the four other superhuman beings in the class to pick up, even lower for an ordinary human. Light pink eyes glanced sideways, directly up at half-lidded dark red eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Brick held in a sneer. The pink puff was gravely serious. She wasn't asking, she was _commanding_ an answer from him. Dark thoughts bubbled inside his head, but he swiftly suppressed them. Besides, he was more annoyed than anything really.

Closing his eyes, he answered just as lowly. "Isn't it obvious?" Brick's mouth barely moved, Blossom quietly noted. "I'm here to learn."

Blossom's grip on her pen tightened for a split second before relaxing.

"So am I."

"Good for you."

She didn't miss the underlying mocking tone from his rich velvet voice.

Blossom's eyes narrowed. The tight grip she unknowingly had on her pen loosened once, her hand automatically released the pen for it to roll on her desk with small cracks on its pink frame.

"Is that all you're here for?" Blossom's words were more derisive than probing. "No tricks? Or maybe this is all really just part of some elaborate and twisted revenge plan…"

Brick sneered. "Cross my fucking non-existent evil heart and hope to die a _second time_." His tone was impassive and cold.

Blossom actually flinched. Brick felt just the slightest bit pleased at that.

The class ended, and all the students hastily stood up and left in a noisy crowd. Butch and Buttercup were the first two to exit the classroom, zipping away in the blink of an eye, leaving behind two streaks of quickly fading light and dark green. Boomer followed the two rushed greens in a comparatively more relaxed slowness, a still uncertain Bubbles leaving right after giving her blond counterpart a good head start. Two pairs of blue eyes, one light and the other dark, both gave a fleeting glance at the remaining two sitting inside the classroom just before they left. Blossom and Brick paid them no attention, even as they were quickly left all alone in the classroom, the teacher having already left a few seconds before.

The red ruff turned to face his counterpart and leaned down, his mouth right next to her ear.

"At least," Brick's voice was low and shiver-inducing. "That's what you believe. Right, babe?"

Brick then swiftly stood up and headed for the door.

"Brick, wait." She looked up, willingly connecting her light pink eyes with her counterpart's dark red ones as Brick paused at the door. "What about your brothers?"

Eyes the frightening shade of blood glanced down at her seated figure once, for just a split second, before coolly exiting the classroom.

"Ask your sisters."

* * *

He was a lot taller than her, that's for sure, easily looming over her and it really got on Buttercup's nerves.

He had a (unfortunately undeniable) handsome face and spiky jet black hair, the ends of his bangs lightly falling over his fierce eyes that were an intense color of forest green. He wore a short-sleeved black shirt that clung to his strong torso and nicely outlined his chiseled chest and sculpted body, dark green pants with two black belts crossing low on his hips. Two silver dog tags glinted from where they hung around his neck.

All the blushing girls in the classroom drooled over with hungry gazes at what could be perfectly described as _yum_. He was to die for, and Buttercup was the only one there who knew how very real that statement was as the Townsville High girls' 'new bad boy eye candy' could easily kill them with a single disinterested flick of his wrist.

He was in her second class.

"What the fuck are you doing here…?" Buttercup hissed, drilling her glaring lime green eyes right into taunting forest green ones.

He was her fucking psycho counterpart.

"Sitting." A jeering smirk crossed his handsome face, causing all the girls in the class to swoon even more at him. "And as far as I know, it's _legal_."

And he was sitting _right behind her_. (Again.)

Buttercup gritted her teeth. "There are lots of _other_ free seats inside this classroom…"

"Oh, you don't have to ask." Butch gestured with his arm towards the rows of free seats to their right. "You're free to move. Be my guest."

"I mean you, you moron!" Buttercup scowled. "Move your ass somewhere else! Preferably far away from me!"

"Hmm…" Butch didn't even try and pretend to think it over as he leaned back on his seat. "Nope."

"And why not?" Buttercup asked irritably.

"It annoys you."

"Your ugly face annoys me." Buttercup pointedly ignored the glares directed towards her by the girls in their class for her little comment.

"You know what, I think I'll move after all." Butch stood up from his seat. Buttercup gave an audible sigh of relief. "Finally… wait, what-"

Butch palmed the desk in front of him and swiftly made a small agile flip …to the empty seat _right beside_ Buttercup. The girls in their class all squealed at the minor display of athletics from their black-haired new object of affection while the green puff's gorgeous face twisted into an angry scowl. She snapped when Butch casually looked over at her direction with a smirk on his handsome face, "Yo, Butterfly. Miss me?"

Buttercup slammed her left hand down on her desk and brought her face close to his. "Are you asking for a fight?!" She hissed lowly, their faces only inches away from each other.

Forest green eyes glinted as Butch's smirked turned sneering. "You replying, Butterbutt?"

"Sorry, _Butch_," Buttercup leaned away and spat out the name as if it was drenched in Antidote X. "But I'm not a retarded psycho like you."

"You sure about that, _Buttercup_?" Butch sneered back. "Because we're fucking counterparts, remember, or do I have to keep reminding you?"

Buttercup gritted her teeth. Where the hell was the fucking teacher…?!

"If you want a fight so bad, why don't you throw the first punch?" The green puff angrily growled through gritted teeth.

"Careful, Butterbabe." Butch smirked down at her. "I might just do that since you're apparently too chicken to do so." His forest green eyes were absolutely taunting.

Buttercup stilled.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" The black-haired puff demanded, narrowed lime green eyes flashed in warning.

Dark forest green eyes flashed back in return.

The tension between the two of them was thick, intense and just plain obvious. What _kind_ of tension between the two of them, however, was not. Well, either that, or the students at TH were just plain stupid as Buttercup felt numerous stabbing glares directed towards her coming from all the _jealous_ girls in her class. What the fuck? Oh, they are so better **not** be insinuating that she and Butch were…

"Yo, new guy! Fuck off my girl!"

Buttercup broke her little stare-off with her counterpart and let her face fall to her hands with a loud groan as Butch raised a brow from where he sat beside her. The black-haired ruff looked up to find a tall guy with brown hair and black eyes angrily glaring down at him. He was admittedly fairly charming and indeed had looks with the 'bad boy aura', but nowhere _near_ the green ruff's level, nor his two brothers'. Buttercup knew that, unlike the brown-haired wannabe standing in front of them, the three Rowdyruffs were _real_ bad boys.

"Who the fuck are you?" Butch dully asked as he stood up, which only incensed the brown-haired guy even more.

"Mitch Mitchelson, the hottest and baddest guy in Townsville High." Mitch crossed his arms and smirked. He looked so smug and absolutely sure of himself.

Butch just wanted to laugh. "And?"

"_And_ I want you to stop flirting with my girl. So back off, or else!"

Butch raised a brow as Buttercup suddenly sat up straight behind him and angrily yelled out, "Mitch, you fucking shit-for-brains! I am **not** your girl!"

Sadly, she was (pointedly) ignored by both egoistical males (idiots).

"Wait. You think _I_ was trying to get in the pants of _this_…?" Butch deadpanned as he pointed to himself then to his irritated and glaring counterpart, who twitched at his words. "Dude, even though you've got great taste, you really do have shit for brains."

"I'm only gonna say this once, so you better listen well, newbie." Mitch growled threateningly, black eyes flashing in anger. "Stay the fuck away from me and my girl, and you might just live to see another day."

Buttercup slapped her exasperated face. 'That idiot…!'

Butch merely raised a brow. "You don't know me, do you?"

"Why should I?" Mitch scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You're just some pansy ass newbie who doesn't know who he's talking to!" He growled, acting tough.

'Mitch, you dead moron! Shut up already!' Buttercup mentally screamed. '**You** don't know **who** you're talking to!'

"Oh? Well then..." A dark grin slowly formed on Butch's handsome face. Forest green eyes glinted. "Allow me to introduce myself."

Mitch couldn't help but jump back when another hand suddenly shot out from behind Butch and clasped itself tight against the black-haired ruff's outstretched fist that was _inches away from his face_. 'He's as fast as Buttercup…!' Mitch's startled, and maybe even _scared_, black eyes traced the hand that saved him all the way up an arm to where Buttercup stood close behind her counterpart, a stern frown on her gorgeous face.

Once again, Butch merely raised a brow, his handsome face schooled into a bored apathy. A small unreadable gleam darkened in half-lidded forest green eyes and Mitch, unnerved by the look in the black-haired guy's eyes, fought to instinctively take a step back.

Buttercup tiptoed up and leaned her mouth right next to her counterpart's ear.

"Butch." Her soft warm breath whispered a strong warning. "**Don't**…"

"How cute, you're protecting your precious little boyfriend." The green ruff sneered. "Gag me."

Buttercup scowled, her lime green eyes flashing her short temper. "He is **not** my fucking boyfriend." Her free hand quickly wrapped around Butch's throat, her sharp nails lightly digging into the exposed skin of his neck. "And don't fucking _tempt_ me." Bright green nails dug deeper into the black-haired ruff's skin, drawing a small bead of blood.

Butch was unaffected and merely sneered wider as he felt Buttercup's crushing grip on his neck let go.

"I see you don't want me to ruin his face." The green ruff spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes as Buttercup narrowed her own. "I don't blame you, it's fucking ugly enough as it is."

Mitch, who had been quietly standing at the sidelines and just watching the two bantering counterparts with a confused expression on his face, glared and growled at Butch for his comment. "What the fuck did you just say-"

"Mitch, shut the fuck up and stay out of this!" Buttercup exploded as she redirected her furious glowing green eyes upon the brunet, causing him to flinch and take a frightened step back. "Get it into that tiny shit-filled head of yours that I dumped your sorry cheating ass two years ago and that I'd sooner die than get back together with you, so stop trying and leave me the fuck alone already! We are fucking through, you delusional piece of shit!"

Mitch paled. A distant roaring memory of what happened two years ago flashed in his trembling black eyes and he gave an audible terrified and _justified_ gulp.

"Such a dirty mouth, Butters." Butch interrupted, drawling scathingly as he raised a single brow. "I admit that I was seriously turned on. Just one thing though…"

Butch chose that moment to escape his counterpart's loosened hold on him and reverse their positions, roughly pinning her to the nearby wall faster than the blink of an eye. With his right hand pinning both her wrists above her head while his other hand was firmly gripping her throat in a tight crushing hold, pain briefly flashed through wide lime green eyes and it sent a brief surge of thrill through the black-haired ruff. Buttercup's gorgeous face contorted into a dark scowl as her counterpart lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered huskily, "Piss off my fights, bitch."

Tightening his grip on his counterpart's throat for a quick second, he swiftly let go and stepped back, causing Buttercup to fall down to the ground with one hand lightly holding her throbbing neck. Lime green eyes glared defiantly up at forest green eyes.

Butch silently watched her for a few minutes with smoldering dark green eyes before he shoved his hands into his pants pockets and walked away, heading straight for the classroom door, all the silently watching other students in the class parting for him like the red sea.

Mitch quickly snapped out of it and immediately held out a helping hand towards Buttercup, but the green puff only slapped it away harshly as she stood up, her lime green eyes trained on her counterpart's muscular back as he walked away. Buttercup gritted her teeth but held herself back from retaliating. She remembered her sister's words from earlier, and Blossom was a **lot** scarier than Butch, hands-down.

Mitch clenched his teeth, his fists tightening as they shook in rage. His narrowed black eyes darkened at Butch's walking form.

"You… You…" He suddenly ran forward, rushing with one fist extended towards the black-haired ruff's back. "…Fucking bastard!"

Buttercup's eyes widened in alarm and she cursed under her breath. Before the green puff could move, Butch had already turned around and gripped Mitch's outstretched arm by the wrist with one hand, causing the brown-haired guy to flinch at the _inhumanely_ tight grip. In one swift move, the green ruff easily broke the offending arm. Mitch fell down to the floor with a loud pained cry, his free hand supporting his broken arm that Butch was still gripping.

"Butch." Buttercup called out with a frown on her face. Her narrowed lime green eyes were staring straight at his forest green eyes, and a smirk graced Butch's lips. "Let him go."

Mitch froze.

Sensing the sudden lack of struggling, Butch looked down and raised a brow.

"B-Butch…?" Mitch's black eyes widened in fear-filled recognition. "O-Of the _Rowdyruff Boys_…?"

"Oh, so you do know me!" The black-haired ruff grinned widely. Mitch gulped and Buttercup's eyes narrowed as Butch's grin turned dark. The black-haired ruff let go of Mitch's broken arm and instead lifted him up by his shirt. Butch hovered up lightly in the air, taking the utterly terrified and sweating brunet with him. Mitch gulped, hardly able to breathe in his situation.

"Butch!" Buttercup called out once more. Her fisted hands clenched and unclenched from where they laid at her sides. "Drop him!"

"Or what, Butterfly?" Butch smiked and, just to add to the green puff's irritation, tauntingly shook the frozen-in-fear Mitch in front of her. (If the situation wasn't serious, Buttercup would have totally laughed at the utterly comical look in her ex's stupid face.)

Buttercup gritted her teeth. Lime green eyes started glowing faintly. "You're seriously asking for a fight…"

"Only from you, cupcake." Butch said sweetly, narrowing his eyes as he softly cooed down to her.

Buttercup's eye twitched as she made an irritated noise from the back of her throat that sent her black-haired counterpart laughing.

"I'll say this one last time, asshole." Buttercup's eyes glowed darker in warning. "Drop. Him. **Now**."

"Come and make me." With a smirk, forest green eyes _looked down at her_. "That is if you still got it, 'Toughest Fighter'."

At that, Buttercup just snapped.

She absolutely **hated** being called weak, especially by her fucking _counterpart_!

Lime green eyes flashed and the green puff flew forward and delivered a powered punch right at the black-haired ruff's gut, causing him to let go of Mitch as Buttercup sent Butch careening through several walls.

* * *

Truthfully, Bubbles felt like she was luckier than her two sisters at first.

She was the only one out of the three of them to not be seated anywhere near their respective counterpart during their first class. (Truthfully, she felt a little sorry for Blossom. At least Buttercup had the small silver lining of the fact that she couldn't see Butch when he sat behind her.)

Bubbles had steeled herself and entered her second class, full on intent on being prepared in running into –_evading_– her counterpart, only to find out that Boomer wasn't taking that particular class.

She didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

Bubbles' second class ended earlier than expected and the blonde happily bade farewell to a few new friends she made during class, which helped distracted her from worrying about her counterpart for a small amount of time. The bubbly blonde walked through a few hallways as she made her way over towards the lockers and realized that she wasn't exactly as prepared as she thought she was.

There, standing a few feet in front of her and busy organizing a few of his things inside his locker that was just _beside_ her own, was her counterpart.

She immediately noticed that he was taller than her now. (Which made her inwardly pout. It seemed that **everyone** was taller than her, even when she wore high heels!) Boomer's handsome face was set into his typical expression of serene detachment that seemed to never fail to attract starstruck stares and second glances from the female population. (He and his brothers were rapidly becoming the three heartthrobs of Townsville High, Bubbles observed with no amount of surprise.) He had golden blond hair that looked softer than tickling feathers and, for a moment, Bubbles was tempted to run her hands through those cottony sunlight locks. His bangs were parted at the center to reveal his mesmerizing deep ocean blue eyes, that is, if his eyes were open and not closed as it seemed to always be. Bubbles silently wondered the reason why…

Boomer's clothes were rather simple and casual, but it suited him. He wore blue jeans with a short-sleeved blue checkered shirt that was left unbuttoned over a white long-sleeved shirt, showing the dark blue pendant hanging around his neck. Boomer was downright attractive and all the equally, if not even more, blushing girls all around the locker hallway attested to that fact.

Bubbles bit her lip as she stood there rather stupidly, watching her counterpart standing right next to her locker, and the blonde puff mentally groaned as Boomer seemed to not be leaving any time soon, nor was he in a hurry to do so. Bubbles let out a small sigh.

Bracing herself, the blonde puff swiftly zipped over to her locker and silently opened it, hiding her face as she quickly stuffed her white hobo bag inside. If Boomer noticed her, he did not show it. Her nerves lifted slightly at that as she started quietly arranging a few of her things for her next class. 'So far, so good…'

"Bubbles."

The blonde puff jumped, sky blue eyes widening at the soft mellow voice very obviously directed towards her. Boomer was straightening a few notebooks, not once glancing away from the inside of his locker.

"Please stop acting skittish around me."

Bubbles blinked in surprise. 'What…?'

Boomer closed his locker door softly, a thin notebook tucked underneath one arm. He turned to face her, eyes ever closed.

"I can't speak for my brothers, but I already told you that I have no intention whatsoever to fight." His voice was soft yet his tone was the opposite, and Bubbles just noticed that he hadn't once uttered a single lie to her and her sisters since yesterday, as did his brothers. "So I'd rather not deal with your silly fear for a whole year. It's as annoying as it was back when we were kids."

Bubbles narrowed her eyes up at him, slowly closing her locker door. "Back then you were evil."

The corner of his lips quirked up slightly, his handsome face still serenely void of emotion. "Back then."

Bubbles was silent.

Boomer sighed and ran a single hand through his hair. "Look, We don't really care whether you three believe it or not, but my brothers and I just want to go through senior year in peace. I'm sure you and your sisters do too. So just do the both of us a favor and act like I don't exist, easy enough. I don't really care."

'_'I don't really care.'_' Her counterpart's words echoed inside her head and Bubbles frowned, affected by what he said. "Boomer… I don't fear you, you know that…"

"Do I?" The blue ruff replied with a blasé voice.

Bubbles' beautiful face saddened as she continued softly, "Fears aren't silly as well…"

"I know." Boomer said simply. "My brothers and I are well acquainted with fear, remember?"

Bubbles flinched.

"My brothers and I could do to spend senior year without getting fearful looks thrown at us." Boomer's voice was flat. The hand that was clutching his notebook tightened for a split second before loosening. "You don't know how sickeningly haunting it is."

"Boomer…" Bubbles' sad eyes darted down towards the ground. Her soft voice quietly whispered, "I don't…"

"That's right, _you don't_."

Bubbles flinched once more.

The blue ruff took one look (or at least his version of taking a look, with his eyes closed) at his counterpart and let out a small sigh, lightly shaking his head. "Nevermind…" His voice and posture recovered its typical serene detachment.

Boomer suddenly paused. He quickly reached out his free hand and grabbed hold of his surprised counterpart's arm and pulled her towards him.

Sky blue eyes widened in surprise, "What-"

Bubbles' wide eyes widened even more as the wall to their left suddenly burst with a loud explosion. Butch was sent flying behind her, ruffling her twin light blonde pigtails as he crashed right into the lockers behind them to their right in a rain of slowly clearing smoke and dust. With a low grunt, Boomer's black-haired brother picked himself up from the dented mess and rubble that used to be a whole row of large metal lockers and the wall behind them.

"Yep, she's still got it alright. And to think I was just kidding…" The green ruff muttered as he slowly stood up. Forest green eyes flashed with madness and battlelust. "…At first." _Twitching_, Butch shot forward with an insane grin and disappeared into the hole in the wall that his abrupt entrance made, leaving behind a light trail of dark green that quickly started fading.

Bubbles blinked. The blonde puff stood there, rather stupidly, mouth slightly open in shock as her mind quickly processed what just happened. 'Did Boomer just…?'

Boomer quickly let go of his grip on his counterpart's arm and turned away, stuffing his hands inside his pants pockets.

"Boomer, wait!" Bubbles cried out, making her counterpart halt in his steps. The blue ruff looked back. "A-Ah, t-thank you…" The blonde puff shyly and hesitantly spoke, a light blush dusting her cheeks. _Cute…_

Boomer stared at her for a full minute before looking away and continued walking.

Bubbles looked down with a small sigh. She fiddled with one of her light blonde pigtails.

Boomer suddenly paused.

"…You're welcome."

Bubbles quickly looked up, but her counterpart was gone. It didn't stop a small smile from slowly erupting in her face though.

Buttercup was wrong, and Bubbles was going to prove it.

* * *

Dark pink heels followed closely behind by a pair of blue wedges swiftly made their way towards the school infirmary as soon as lunch time rolled in. Narrowed furious pink eyes immediately focused on the sole occupant inside the room, sitting bored and cross-legged atop one of the infirmary's white beds.

"Buttercup." Blossom's stare was piercing. "It's only been _four hours_."

Buttercup had the decency to flinch and look away in shame.

Blossom sighed and shook her head. "You two really couldn't leave each other alone for more than four hours…?" A light giggle escaped Bubbles' lips at that.

Buttercup glared, her right eye twitching once. The way her red-haired sister worded it, it sounded like she and Butch…

The green puff shivered.

"Seven classrooms, four hallways, nineteen lockers and the school's entire gymnasium." Blossom listed off with an unreadable face. "The school's cutting off the rest of the day."

Pink eyes flashed dangerously.

Buttercup flinched. No, she was **not** cowering in front of her seriously pissed off 'eldest' sister.

"I am not in the mood for this. It's stressful and just plain hard enough with the boys' unexpected return…" Blossom sighed, massaging her temples. "I don't need you adding to it."

Buttercup winced. _Ouch. Busted…_

"So what's my punishment?" The black-haired puff bit her lip nervously. "Detention for the rest of the year? Permanent grounding? Lifetime imprisonment to maximum security? Burning my blanket…?"

Blossom's slightly glowing eyes narrowed, unamused.

At that moment, fortunately for Buttercup, the school doctor came into the room. He was a new addition to Townsville High, a rather affable-looking man with long black hair tied into a low ponytail and smiling yellow-green eyes behind frameless glasses. A small nametag _'Dr. T. Kane' _was pinned at his white lab coat.

"Well, aside from a few cuts and bruises, there's nothing really wrong with Buttercup here." Doctor Kane smiled. "The biggest injury would be her broken wrists, but they've already started healing themselves, no doubt because of the Chemical X in her blood. Other than that, I see no real reason to keep her here any longer…"

"Finally!" Buttercup cheered and immediately jumped off the white bed she was sitting on and made a mad dash out the door, much to the amusement of the school doctor and her sister Bubbles. Blossom merely sighed and offered a small apology to the school doctor for the inconvenience and quickly left, followed by her blonde sister.

All three Utonium sisters were slowly walking through an empty hallway, talking about what just happened with their respective counterparts.

Blossom's lips thinned.

"We need to meet up with them."

Both Buttercup and Bubbles quickly swiveled around to face their red-haired sister. "What!?"

"You two saw just how tense our first meeting with them yesterday was. It was borderline volatile." Blossom evenly explained. "Not to mention what happened today." Narrowed pink eyes glanced meaningfully at lime green eyes, and Buttercup looked away with a sheepish expression on her face.

Blossom let out a small tired sigh, one hand pinching the bridge of her nose.

"At this rate, if we don't work out something with the boys and soon, I'm afraid Townsville High won't survive."

* * *

True enough, Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles all arrived at the school's windy rooftop to find all three of their counterparts already there and silently waiting for them.

Boomer was quietly standing off to the far left, casually leaning against the tall metal safety fence with a lollipop on his mouth. His eyes were closed as usual, his attractive face set in his typical tranquil expression. He was facing to the side, as if taking on the picturesque view of all of Townsville High from above. The cool winds gently ruffled his golden blond hair.

Bubbles could only stare.

He was absolutely breathtaking.

Butch, looking noticeably calmer, was perched atop the high metal safety fence, right above where his blond brother was standing, one leg bent to his chest and the other dangling freely over the edge of the fence. He was staring down at Buttercup with glinting forest green eyes and a smirk on his handsome face. His two silver dog tags gleamed in the sunlight.

Buttercup's eyes zeroed in on her counterpart's bandaged wrists and her fists clenched, shooting away the slight pain coming from her own _similar_ injuries.

Brick, face boredly indifferent, was standing about a meter to the right of Boomer, his arms crossed against his chest and coolly leaning back on the metal fence behind him. His half-lidded dark red eyes were staring straight at his counterpart's guarded pink ones.

Blossom did not avert her eyes as she crossed her own arms when she and her sisters came to a stop just a small distance in front of their counterparts.

The two sides engaged in a stare-down.

It was Brick who broke the silence.

The red ruff closed his eyes and let out a small sigh, pushing himself away from the metal fence to stand tall and straight. "Let's make this quick."

"Then you know what we want." Blossom's eyes narrowed. "Talk."

Both the redheads' siblings silently backed off, leaving their 'eldest' siblings to take charge of this 'meeting' and settled for just watching the other party carefully.

Eyes the dark shade of blood slowly opened. "We came back for senior year. _That's it_." Brick looked at all three of the girls in the eyes, stopping on Blossom's the longest. "Like what Boomer's already told your sister earlier, My brothers and I don't care whether you believe it or not, just don't bother us. Watch us for all of senior year, we don't care. You'd just be wasting your precious time in useless paranoia."

"Giving your permission?" Blossom narrowed her eyes further as she spoke mockingly. "My, how generous, Brick."

Brick just tilted his head down at her in a condescending manner. "Like I said, you'd just be wasting your time. Don't expect anything from us."

"Oh?" Blossom challenged. "What about Butch and Buttercup's fight earlier?"

The two aforementioned greens straightened at that.

Brick coolly brushed her off. "You and I both know the blame for that lies on your side."

Buttercup flinched at that.

Blossom frowned and glared at her counterpart, "Expect it to be the last."

"**You** expect it to be the last." Dark red eyes directly pierced light pink ones. "Because contrary to how much you three believe, we don't care about terrorizing Townsville nor do we enjoy antagonizing you girls anymore, even if we had the spare time to do so." Brick dully explained. "I'm sure than the both of us have better things to do than to get hung up on the past. It's narcissistic and just plain _dumb_."

Blossom tried hard not to show that she was actually taken aback, ignoring Butch's not so quiet snickering and Boomer's light inaudible sigh. Bubbles and Buttercup looked incredulous. All three Powerpuffs were all rendered silent.

The pink puff's lips thinned. "I see…"

"Do you?" Her counterpart challenged.

Rose pink eyes flashed in defiance. "We'll find out."

Brick smirked (Blossom did not want to admit how nostalgic it was, and she will never admit how her heart skipped a beat at seeing how attractively roguish he just looked right then) before he and his brothers spontaneously flew away, leaving behind three quickly fading trails of red, dark green and dark blue.

For a moment, the three Powerpuffs just stood there at the school roof, in silent contemplation.

"Bloss…" Buttercup spoke up after a minute, looking at her red-haired sister. "What just happened…?" Bubbles too looked curious and slightly confused.

Blossom sighed, slightly aggravated. "For lack of better words?" The redhead spoke dryly, glancing up at the rapidly fading trails of dark colors streaking the sky. "A testing truce."

She leveled her pink eyes at both Buttercup's lime green and Bubbles' sky blue ones. "And let's hope they don't fail."

* * *

_**Beside: **_

_**At the side of. Next to. Near.**_

* * *

**Authoress Ending Notes**

**I give up on their characterizations. I can't wait until they're all friends. (Or at least **_**nicely civil**_** towards each other.)**

**Yes, I like to describe what they wear. It adds to the story word count.**

**This is my second story, so I hope to see some improvement in my writing…**


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